Lorient reveal they have had two bids for Sunderland target Lamine Kone

Chris Young

French side Lorient have received two offers for Sunderland target Lamine Kone.

Sunderland have watched a host of central defenders over recent weeks, with Sam Allardyce keen to strengthen an area of his squad where are his options are paper-thin.

There’s no offers or conversations with Lorient at this moment of time.

Sam Allardyce

Lorient’s Kone is one of the main names on Sunderland’s hit-list, with Allardyce scouting the Ivory Coast international in person last month.

Allardyce confirmed last week that Kone was a target for the Black Cats, but denied reports in France that Sunderland had already agreed a fee for the 26-year-old.

“There’s no offers or conversations with Lorient at this moment of time,” said Allardyce.

But the Echo understands that two bids have been made with Lorient for Kone, although it is unknown whether Sunderland are one of the clubs to have made a formal approach.

Norwich have also been strongly linked with Kone over recent days, with Lorient ready to cash-in on the defender – mooted to be valued around the £4million mark.

Kone is far from the only centre-half Sunderland are considering though, with West Ham’s James Collins on Allardyce’s radar, albeit Hammers boss Slaven Bilic has indicated that he is not looking to offload the 32-year-old.

Reports in the German press have linked Sunderland with Bayern Munich’s Jan Kirchhoff, while the Black Cats have also watched Schalke’s Joel Matip.